August 14, 2012

Imagine That! No Evidence of Voter Fraud

Election Day is 83 days away.

A recently released News21 analysis found there is no evidence that voter ID requirements are need. After an exhaustive search of public records, the News21 team concluded voter fraud is “‘virtually non-existent”:

Analysis of the resulting comprehensive News21 election fraud database turned up 10 cases of voter impersonation. With 146 million registered voters in the United States during that time, those 10 cases represent one out of about every 15 million prospective voters.

David Schultz, professor of public policy at Hamline University School of Business, told News21:

Voter fraud at the polls is an insignificant aspect of American elections. There is absolutely no evidence that (voter impersonation fraud) has affected the outcome of any election in the United States, at least any recent election in the United States.

While in-person voter impersonation is a figment of Republicans’ imagination, it’s easy to imagine the confusion and long lines voter ID will cause on Election Day. A Washington Post poll found that voters don’t know what they don’t know. Jon Cohen, The Post’s director of polling, observed:

From a public awareness standpoint, it’s pretty low awareness, We’re talking about under half of all American adults who have even heard something of this raging controversy.

Last week, the Cost of Freedom Project, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, and The Andrew Goodman Foundation launched a public awareness campaign to raise awareness of the new photo ID requirements.

Please make a donation to support the campaign. Voters can’t get ready if they don’t know they are in the crosshairs.